Marketing for car dealers and auto services
from a listing view to a visit
A car buyer contacts three to five dealers before choosing one. The dealer who follows up fastest and most consistently usually wins the sale, not necessarily the one with the lowest price. We build the ads, the lead follow-up and the CRM that makes that speed possible.
Where the sale actually gets lost
The ad usually does its job. What loses the sale is what happens after: an inquiry comes in and sits for hours before anyone calls back. By then the buyer has already contacted the next dealer on their list. Inventory feeds often keep advertising vehicles that already sold, which wastes spend and annoys the buyer who shows up for nothing. And service-department promotions, which often carry the best margins, rarely get the attention new-vehicle campaigns do.
How we close that gap
Campaigns sync to your live inventory, so a sold vehicle stops being advertised on its own. This is the same feed discipline we apply in e-commerce: we have found catalogues where dead links silently pulled a third of products out of ads. Every inquiry triggers an automated follow-up sequence, call, message, email, timed to reach the buyer before they move on. No more relying on one call and silence.
We build the CRM pipeline from inquiry to test drive to sale. You see cost per visit and cost per sale by vehicle category. Service-department campaigns run separately, since that department usually deserves more budget than it gets. Review requests go out after sales and service visits. Reputation compounds in this category, the same way it did over four years of local marketing for a tattoo studio, where profit doubled.
What you hand us to start
Your inventory feed or a current export, access to your ad accounts, your current lead-handling process. And the name of whoever actually follows up with inquiries, so the sequence matches how your team already works.
What the weekly number actually shows
We report in visits, test drives and sales, not just inquiries. A lead that never gets followed up costs the same acquisition spend as one that converts, so inquiry counts alone hide the real problem. Inventory accuracy is checked on a schedule, so sold vehicles do not keep drawing ad spend.
Price and timeline
| Option | Price | What it covers | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch or audit | from $900 | Campaigns, inventory sync, follow-up sequence | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Monthly management | from $900 / month | Ongoing campaigns, CRM, service promotions, reporting | monthly, no lock-in |
| Full control, handover to your team | from $1,900 (one-time), edits paid per task, no monthly fee | Documented system, access transferred, your team runs it | 3 to 4 weeks to hand over |
Related
See sales funnels, lead magnets and CRM for the follow-up build and performance marketing for the ad side. Related playbooks: marketing for construction and renovation companies, marketing for logistics and B2B service companies, marketing for furniture and home brands. For automated follow-up, see car dealership lead follow-up. Real-world reference: CRM and lead routing for a real estate developer and four years of local marketing for a tattoo studio.
Inquiries going cold before anyone calls back? Get in touch and we will look at your follow-up speed first.
FAQ
How much does car dealer marketing cost?
Launch work starts from $900: campaigns, inventory sync and a follow-up sequence. Ongoing management starts from $900 a month. A full CRM and multi-department system usually runs $2,000 to $3,500.
How long until we see visits or test drives?
Campaigns launch in 1 to 2 weeks. Inquiries typically start within days. A reliable read on cost per visit or sale takes 2 to 4 weeks.
What ad budget do we need?
A realistic minimum is $600 to $1,200 a month for one location, with inventory-synced campaigns usually outperforming generic brand awareness ads at this budget.
What do you need from us to start?
Your inventory feed or a current listing export, access to your ad accounts, your current lead-handling process, and whoever follows up with inquiries today.
How do you report results?
Weekly: inquiries, booked visits or test drives, sales, cost per sale, by vehicle category and channel.